Crimson Ties
by Kami-no-Namida
Summary: Given to vampires after his role as a spy had been revealed, Severus Snape prayed for a swift death. But he survived. Reborn as a vampire, one intent on ending his life, Severus goes to the only person he trusted to let him go with dignity. On his way however, he meets someone not quite unexpected. Someone who may even turn out to be everything Severus ever needed. Slash, Mpreg
1. The Relentless Rain

Hi there (^^)/,

This is the third fic I'm starting as a birthday gift to myself. Time flies by, huh? It is once more a **Snarry**, so hopefully at least some of you will be satisfied. :)

The basic line of Harry Potter universe will be kept up to 4th book, then, though the basics are kept the same, I'll play with the content a bit. I'll explain all the changes along the way, so hopefully you won't get lost (-w-')

I am sorry to all you who are waiting for updates on the other stories _(time seems to hate me)_, I'll try to get to those as fast as possible. I love you (0w0)/

**Warning:** Slash, Mpreg _(that's in distant future for now though)_, also some Graphic Descriptions of Violence?, I guess - after all Vampires come with blood, right? ... I can't think of more at the moment. I'll add those later.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling does... I only own the Harry Potter books on my shelf (OnO)

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><p><strong>…<strong> **Crimson Ties …**

**1. The Relentless Rain**

It was raining that night.

The sky was covered with clouds.

The air was heavy with humidity.

Tiny droplets were beating against the windows relentlessly, as if they thought they had a chance to get through the glass.

Needless to say it would have been a fool's hope, even if the glass was not full of magic.

Just as the whole house was.

There was nothing interesting on that house, one would say on the first sight. It was just an ordinary, uninteresting, _normal_ house you could find anywhere else in the world.

But was it truly so? Looks can be deceiving.

Because whether one would believe it or not in that one house of all, in one of its rooms as to say, something important was happening.

It's strange, how something so very life-changing, something that could very well change the course of fate, could be crammed into something as small as a single room.

It was a big room, admittedly, _hall_ even, yet that mattered very little, for it was not the room itself that was important. The people inside it were. And that rainy night, there were many, _many_ people gathered in the biggest room of that house.

If either of those people looked out of the room, they would have seen the rain. They would have seen how the tiny raindrops reflected moonlight on their surfaces. Some of those people would have even called it a beautiful sight, in normal circumstances.

_Normal_ that night was not.

And as such none of the people in that room looked.

They were gathered in the hall for a very different purpose. And for that purpose their eyes had to be aimed at the centre of the room, where two men were, one obviously in better predicament than the other, if the blood spilt was anything to go by.

The victor and the loser.

The Master and the servant.

The Dark Lord... and his disloyal Death Eater.

"A traitor... the stain that had been tainting our ranks... That is all you will ever be." the Heir of Slytherin hissed as he stood over the crumpled figure on the floor. It seemed the latest round of spells he sent at the man had not really satisfied him as much as he would have hoped.

The mad man thought for a moment of prolonging the torture. Of remembering more spells to use on his treacherous servant.

The hours he spent on the same activity however dampened his enjoyment of it.

It was also at that moment, that the man came up with a better idea.

Or at least what seemed to be a better idea for someone whose mind was twisted enough to even think of it.

"Now that I had the time to think it over, dear Severus..." Voldemort started, seemingly deep in thoughts as he walked back and forth in front of his throne, as the Inner Circle of his Death Eaters was watching the scene with amusement.

At least that was how it looked to the mad man they followed.

The truth was not much different. The people who represented the Inner Circle indeed enjoyed the show.

All of them.

Bar one.

That one man however could not speak up. He knew he would not be able to help his friend anyway.

"I figured I have a better use for you." the mad man hissed as his scaly face twisted into what would have been a smirk in a humanly proportioned face.

"I have the latest delegation of one of the Romanian Vampire clans over. They are interested in fighting for our side. How about you... entertain them?" the Lord cackled, few of his followers joining him, the screechy voice of one Bellatrix Lestrange being the most recognizable one.

Sending a slashing curse the Dark Lord laughed cruelly as the effect shown itself in the form of the puddle of blood spreading further on the floor.

Further and further from the nearly motionless figure on the floor.

"Lucius!"

"Yes, my Lord?" one of the men in masks stepped out immediately.

"Take this traitor to the Large dining room in the West wing." the snake-like man ordered. "I'll send the participants of the meal right behind you."

"As you wish my Lord." Lucius Malfoy bowed and, placing his hand on the fallen spy's shoulder, apparated away, reappearing in the room appointed by his mad Lord fractions of second later.

"I'm sorry, Severus..." he whispered to his friend as he took out his wand. "I can't risk Draco and Cissa... Not even for you." he apologised, laying his hand on the Potion Master's shoulder gently, knowing that even that would come off painful, after the hell the Dark Lord put the spy in his ranks through. His long-time friend however deserved at least that one last gesture.

"I- I understand." the man replied sadly, his muscles twitching in protest as he tried to lay his hand over the Malfoy Lord's, his voice cracking. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Lucius replied, knocking Severus out with a spell.

At least the experience of being ripped apart he wanted to rid his friend of.

He owed him at least that much.

...

It was only when he was leaving the room with a heavy heart that he noticed the raindrops which kept on falling still.

'The sky is weeping for you, my friend.' the blonde thought as he closed the door behind himself, looking at his fallen friend for the last time.

'Forgive me.'

...

Meanwhile, elsewhere, in a castle miles and miles distant from that place, a boy was sitting on the ledge of a window, observing the rain also.

It felt to him as if he _should_ be looking at it, as if waking up in the middle of the night did not happen on an accident.

'Why should that be though?' Harry thought, as he observed Hogwarts grounds which were being covered by the veil of falling water.

The answer, however, he would not know.

Not even some time later, when he would decide to take the Marauder's map, one of his most precious possessions, and go on one of his night strolls.

Not even when he would check the map and see something that he would not expect.

No.

He would not know until his eyes would fall on the dot labelled "Severus Snape".

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><p><strong>So... uhm... thoughts? (o.o) I hope I caught your attention at least a little.<strong>

**It's short, I know, but most of my first chapters are, serving as prologues of sort... I promise they will get longer. (^^)**

**See ya~ ( "-.-)/**


	2. Through the Dark Corridors

**…** **Crimson Ties …**

**2****. Through the Dark Corridors**

It was not difficult for Harry to slip out of the Gryffindor tower. He had already done it countless times.

That one time around however, there was an obstacle which Harry had trouble overcoming.

His own hesitance.

'What's so hard about moving the few steps?' the teen thought as he stood in front of the backside of the Fat Lady's portrait, staring at it listlessly. 'Just like any other day, err, night, shouldn't it be?'

There wasn't anything hard on it, admittedly.

Just the few steps and he'd be outside. Out of the Common room, out of the Gryffindor part of the tower.

There truly wasn't anything different.

However there are times when human mind rebels against its master. When the brain sends signals to the body, wanting to warn it for one reason or the other. However whether the body, and especially the _soul_ listens to that warning... that is an entirely different matter.

'Weird.' Harry thought only as he put his Invisibility cloak on and stepped through the portrait hole, which he had by then opened.

'What's the matter with me?'

...

Harry roamed the corridors for hours on end, usually.

Once he got out of the Gryffindor lair and into the school he would check the map for a patrolling teacher and if they were nowhere nearby, only _then_ would he take off his Invisibility cloak... and begin one of his night strolls, which increased on length and frequency as the years passed. By that point of time they happened almost nightly.

After all, there was nothing that calmed Harry more after a nightmare, or a vision for that matter, than a walk through the corridors of the castle, which he always called his home.

That feeling of freedom.

The control he had of his limbs.

The way he could stay quiet not only because it would draw the attention of the teacher on the patrol, were he not to - and that he would more likely than not get a few points docked from his House - but because he _chose_ to do so.

Not having to say words and curses coming from a mad man through his lips.

Not having to flail his limbs or scream, when he got caught up in either of his two disturbers of sleep.

Harry loved nothing more than that.

And aside from the initial struggle by the portrait, there was nothing dissimilar about it, or his routine, that night.

Harry walked through the castle, slowly, surely. Collecting his thoughts. Just enjoying the peace that pervaded the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Needless to say it was not to stay that way for much longer.

...

He had been out in the corridors for an hour at least, when he decided that checking the map once again might be prudent.

'Just in time, it seems.' Harry thought, as he looked at the parchment.

For there, just behind the literal corner, in the corridor which would join the one he himself was walking down in a minute, there were little feet depicted. And above them floated the name "Severus Snape".

Realising the danger of running into the man, Harry was about to close the map and retreat quickly... but then something caught his eye.

'It's not like Snape to walk so closely to the walls.' Harry mused, looking at the strange occurence, which the map caught, thoughtfully.

'He usually just struts right through the center of the corridors as if he owns them.' a snort escaped Harry at that thought.

And however silly that thought could sound, it was true.

After all what reason would Severus Snape have to walk along the walls? He _revelled_ in the image he constructed for himself. The repute which made students step away from his way, rather than the other way around. That strange mix of fear and respect his very presence called for...

It was the reason he _always _strode right through the corridors, and that fact was all the more true during the nighttime when he could get to the students in quick strides and dock points on the spot.

'Weird.'

Indulging in that strange fact Harry noticed one more thing that was not in accordance with the teacher's usual behaviour. The little steps on the map were walking _way_ too slow.

Something clearly _wasn't_ right and deciding that maybe a detention might be worth getting to know just _what_ the cause for that strange behaviour was, Harry kept the map opened and walked straight in the direction where he knew his teacher to be.

Later on in his life he would think back to that moment.

What would have happened had he decided not to go and investigate? What if he had just gone back to the Gryffindor and left that mystery be?

He was never to know.

Because even if there were realities in which Harry may have done just that, the reality Harry found himself in led him further down the corridor.

The corridor which split into three other and on that one crossroad he took the sharp turn left.

And nothing was to be the same ever again.

...

Harry did not even need to walk too far into the corridor to realise that something had changed in his surroundings. And drastically so.

There was a feeling of oppression in the air. Sudden weight that did not allow for deep breaths...

It took Harry only a split second to realise what was the origin of that feeling.

It was a _sound_.

A sound which was echoing through the empty corridor... A sound of wheezy breaths coming from somewhere decidedly _close._

His wand lit with _Lumos_ held in front of him, Harry sped his steps, because he knew better than well, that a sound like that could not mean anything good for its source.

The source which was in all likelihood one Severus Snape.

As soon as he realised he knew that his decision to investigate the strange occurence had been the _right _choice.

And he knew it with all the more clarity when he finally reached the spot, where the little drawn steps had stilled on the map by then.

Harry however did not know that. Because his eyes were drawn elsewhere, not on the map, which was nearly falling out of the feeble grasp of his shock-slack fingers.

He looked ahead...

And the sight that his eyes came upon was to be forever engraved deeply into his mind.

Nearly dropping his wand in the process, Harry quickly cancelled the enchantment on the Marauder's map and rushed to the teacher's side.

'What the hell happened?' Harry could only think as he crouched lower to the man who by then slid down the wall he had been leaning against up till that moment.

As he did that the light of the spell lit the teacher's face and a hiss left the thin lips as the man bared his teeth at Harry - that in itself being a weird motion - and backed away from the light. It however was not fast enough for Harry not to notice the bright red colour his teacher's eyes had taken on. Nor did he miss the sharp canines which were revealed.

"A vampire..." Harry whispered shocked. It was at that moment that the black clad teacher realised just who was holding the source of light which was hurting his newly sensitive eyes.

"Potter... should have thought." he rasped, his hand going up to hold the healing wound on his neck. He did not want it to heal. He was having hard enough of a time holding back when a beating heart was so close to him. Fresh blood almost offering itself to be sucked as it flowed through the slender body in front of him. Fresh, _delicious_ blood. Not that the container holding it was much less appealing.

'I must be going mad... or going vampire... it does not really make a difference.' the Potion's Master could only moan to himself as he saw the turn of his thoughts. He had to get away somehow. If the wounds closed he'd get back his strength... would get even more than he previously had of it in fact. He would probably suck the boy dry before he even realised it. He'd be dead with a silver stake in his heart for killing the Saviour sooner than one would be able to say "the Chosen One". Wait... wasn't that what he wanted?

"Do you need me to get someone Professor?" Harry asked, casting _Nox_, not wanting to irritate the man's eyes anymore. The occasional torch on the corridor would have to do, light-wise.

The voice of the obviously worried hero snapped the newborn vampire back to reality. Why did Potter sound even remotely worried? For him? It was strange. Not to mention that it was probably the first time he heard Potter address him by something which was not just his surname.

"I'll go and get you Madam Pomfrey." the boy continued before the man had chance to reply and was already gathering himself from the floor.

He however was stopped by hand which gripped his wrist tightly.

"Don't..." Severus said, taking deep breaths in hope to be able to speak properly. "Get the Headmaster."

"But..." the boy wanted to protest. A trait the Potion's Master has always believed to be inherited from his father.

"Potter..." the man insisted, his bright red eyes taking on more of a ruby sheen, the grip on the wrist of the teen tightening.

"You need blood, don't you?" Harry asked quietly, his green eyes locking with their polar opposites.

The teacher was about to shoot back something along the lines "And you thought that up by yourself?" when the next lines took him completely off guard.

"Take my blood." the boy said, crouching back to the floor. The grip on the wrist did not lessen though, it only made the man realise with a shock that even with a creature which was dangerous and the situation they were in life-threatening for the boy the pulse he felt did not quicken even in the slightest. As if the boy was used to not be safe. That was not something a child should be used to, Potter or not.

"I beg your pardon?"

"My blood. Take my blood, I said." he repeated.

"Do you realise what you're saying?" the black-haired man asked. He knew that being able to form his thoughts so quickly was not a good sign exactly. His power was coming back. It really would have been better if he had gotten to Dumbledore before he ran into someone.

"Not fully I guess, but I'd rather deal with that later." the boy shrugged.

_'Blood, offered blood.'_ a voice in the back of Severus Snape's head whispered. '_The first blood being offered.'_ Hadn't he read about something of that sort in the past? If only the voice was not so insistent...

"I refuse." the man said as he tried to get away. He however could not even lessen the grip on the boy's hand... quite the opposite actually.

"I'm not letting you." Harry said only as he inched a bit closer.

Severus knew there was something he was forgetting, but he was so hungry...

"No."

"I'm not leaving until you do." the boy insisted, cutting down the distance between them to nearly a half. He was so close he could feel the Potions Master's breaths against his skin.

The man's inner battle was going on still. The human part of his mind fighting the vampire one, not wanting to give into it.

Then the strength of the grip on the teen's hand lessened.

"The headmaster, Potter." the human part managed to take charge for a moment.

The Gryffindor, however, did not acknowledge the Slytherin Head's command. Instead he took the opportunity a free hand offered him, held out his arm and after a brief hesitation placed his wand by his wrist.

_"Diffindo."_

It took only a split-second for a small cut to appear, blood slowly dripping out of it, the severing charm being a mild one only. It also proved to be more than enough to break the new vampire's resolve.

_'Offered blood. You know you want it. Take it!'_ the voice inside his head pressured.

And Severus listened.

He latched onto the wrist, burying his teeth into it.

He sucked the red, life-giving fluid, ignoring the small whimper of pain when he pressed his teeth deeper into the flesh.

He drank, disregarding the weak hand which gripped at his hair, trying to tug him away.

He drank, until a spell made him back off, sudden weight falling onto him right after as the Saviour of the wizarding world passed out into his arms.

Checking for vital signs, Severus breathed in relief, as his worry of having killed the boy waned. The fact that the teen was unconscious did not make it completely disappear though.

_'Must keep safe...'_ Severus heard that tiny insistent voice in his head speak up again as he cradled the limp body in his arms subconsciously closer.

'What?' the vampire asked himself as he felt his power rise to his new full potential once fed. The voice however did not speak up again and so Severus stood up with the Boy Wonder still in his arms wishing that he had some the potions he always kept on himself around - one never knew what being a Death Eater could bring. Sadly enough, those had been lost at the Dark Lord's mansion.

'Of all times...' the Slytherin thought bitterly as he tightened his hold on the teen, then set out through the corridor to a direction his feet carried him often to.

'Headmaster is not going to be happy about this.'

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><p><strong>Ta-dah? (^^')<strong>

**I'm sorry for the **_big_** delay, really. ****The chapter is not even that long, however I decided to rather give you a shorter chapter as to not to make you wait even longer and make the subsequent part the next chapter instead.  
><strong>_(Sorry, FI readers, I really want to update for you next, but the ideas just aren't coming (;_;) ... hopefully soon)_

**I truly am sorry, I love you. o(o3o)o  
><strong>

_Just a side thought, does anyone of you know a different "cutting spell"? Diffindo was the only that came to my mind._

**See ya~ ( "-.-)/**


	3. The Offered and the Taken

**... Crimson Ties ...**

**3. The Offered and the Taken**

It was one thing to bring an unconscious Boy Wonder to Albus Dumbledore's office... it was an entirely different matter to bring the boy to the old wizard _and_ be the reason for the Gryffindor's unconsciousness. Severus could without much exaggeration say that he was nearly expecting the Headmaster to just kill him on spot, once he realised that it was the - former - spy who had attacked his favourite pupil.

There was something disconcerting about that image.

Was death for himself really what he had intended to ask of Headmaster at first?

'It seems to me as if I had thought that _ages_ ago.'

Be it as may, when the newly-turned vampire appeared in front of the familiar gargoyle, which leapt aside to let him into the Headmaster's office, those thoughts were just secondary.

He needed the old wizard to help the young hero of the wizarding world first.

_'Must keep safe...'_

...

"Severus, my boy, what..." the merry twinkle in the Headmaster's blue eyes disappeared when the man noticed the state the black-clad man and the one he was carrying were in.

"Is that Harry? What happened?" he asked, running a simple diagnostic charm on the unconscious teen.

He did not waste time once he found the cause and summoned an ominous red potion from his stores, spelling it directly into the boy's system.

It was only after he did that that his eyes sought the Potions Master, looking for answers.

"Severus, how did Harry lose so... much... blood?"

The words of the Headmaster trailed into nothingness as he turned to his much younger long-time friend. For it was only that one look that spotted the guilt that permeated the younger man's whole posture. It was enough of an answer...

And of course that was also the moment Severus Snape looked up and his eyes locked with the Headmaster's.

If the first look weren't enough, the look into the man's eyes would have been.

It did not, it _could not_, escape the Headmaster's notice that the man's previously black eyes were now the deepest shade of red. It was as close to the original colour of his eyes as they would ever get from that moment onward. It was also how one could easily recognise a vampire... one who had recently "eaten" that was to say.

"Severus..."

"I..."

"How could you attack Harry? I knew might not have been fond of him, but..."

"Hold your horses, Headmaster," Severus hissed irritably, his eyes glinting dangerously, "if it was not me but some other newborn vampire in this situation, there would be a _line_ of dead people already in my trail. I not only did not do that, but I did not even attack him!"

"What are you implying, my boy?" Albus asked as the answer rang in his mind already.

"I am implying _nothing! He_ offered his blood to me." the man said as he - finally - placed the boy in his arms on the Headmaster's couch. Then turned to the old wizard, his sharp teeth visible as he all but hissed the next sentence. "You can't imagine how hard holding out until here was... and taking the offered is not against anything. You can't even _begin_ to imagine the pain of not being able to listen to the call of blood, Headmaster."

"Oh dear..." the Headmaster walked mechanically to his chair on which he promptly dropped... And it was no later than seconds later that his eyes widened and he assessed the two males before him. Looking at one then the other, there and back again... it seemed as if some kind of realisation just dawned on him.

"What do you have on your mind? You know I don't like your secrets." the newborn vampire's eyes narrowed. It never bode well for him, when the Headmaster's eyes got _that_ glint to them.

"I think we should wake Harry up for that first... Do you have a Blood-replenishing potion on yourself? It seems that the one I used is not enough for Harry."

"Unfortunately, no. I don't have any." the Potion's Mater all but sneered, not wanting to dig into the reasons for that for the time being. Instead he summoned the needed potion from his stores and, unlike the Headmaster, poured it slowly into Harry's mouth, massaging the boy's neck carefully to make him swallow it.

The second potion seemed to do the trick and some colour returned to the Gryffindor's face. Once that happened, the Head of Slytherin cast a quick _Enervate_ on the Gryffindor.

It took but a moment for the teen's eyelashes to flutter open and reveal unfocused green eyes.

"What?" Harry mumbled, only distinguishing his surrounding into colourful blurs. It did not take him long to see a particularly recognizable black blurry shape and he tried to focus closer. "Snape, what...?" then he almost jumped as the events came back to him, causing himself a headache with the sudden movement.

"My head hurts..."

"That is understandable Harry, my boy."

...

Some minutes later, when he felt that Potter would not fall back into unconscious state of mind an moment, the Potions Master turned to said hero of the wizarding world.

"Why didn't you just get Headmaster when I asked, Potter?" he all but spat, never let it be said that he was one to keep his thoughts to himself.

The teen whom he addressed however did not pay him any mind, he only looked elsewhere, resolutely, his jaw tensing and no answer forthcoming.

"I think we can postpone getting the answer for that question for now, Severus." the Headmaster cut in, knowing that getting Harry angry could just result in him having to redecorate his office... again.

"What I'd like to know however is how you came to be so... different, my boy. We all know vampirism is not a contagious illness one can catch overnight."

"No... No it's not." the black-clad man deflated, his own anger disappearing for a moment. There were more urgent matters than getting answers from pigheaded Gryffindors. "He _knows_, Headmaster."

It was needless to ask which "he" he was talking about.

"The mad man sicked representatives of visiting vampire clan on me... after he decided that his spells were enough that is."

"Those are grave news, my boy. However if he meant to make you a vampire meal, how are you still here?"

Trust the Headmaster to grasp the real questions.

"I don't know. I don't remember he encounter much... just something hazy. I was knocked out when I was brought to the _Dining hall_."

"Let's be thankful for small mercies then. Even if the situation is unfortunate." the old wizard sighed, then turned to the teen, who had been forgotten for a moment. "Yet it might be of some use. It depends on how we deal with it."

"What do you mean, Headmaster?" asked the Gryffindor, not knowing why he was included in the conversation again. It seemed there was no reason for it as far as he was concerned. After all what could he do, when the - in all likeliness - _only_ Death Eater who had been on _their_ side was "in the game" no longer?

"Maybe it was fate which led you into Severus' path today. You see, Harry, the first meal of a newborn vampire is the most important of them all. Whether the one the vampire feeds from is a male or female, old or young... it forms the vampire's _tastes,_ as to say."

Harry did not even get to see the horror on the Potions Maters' face - probably imagining himself preying on teenage boys for the rest of his immortal days - before the Headmaster continued.

"However not always. There are rare cases when something much different happens. To be specific, it happens in cases when the first feed of a vampire is of offered blood. _Your _case."

"What's so special about it?" Harry asked, massaging his temples at the same time Snape narrowed his eyes.

"I don't like where your speech is heading."

"Aside from it happening only once, at most twice in a century?" the Headmaster chose to ignore the Potion Master's remark. "Offering a newborn vampire blood on his first feed makes the two form a bond."

"What?" the two listeners asked at once, one never having heard of it before, the other suppressing anything and everything he might have read on the matter with sheer force of will.

"A bond. And not just any bond. This bond makes the one who had offered the blood the vampire's primary, and usually _only_ source of blood, the only cases when the vampire would be able to feed elsewhere would be if taking blood would endanger the Bonded's life."

'_Must keep safe...'_ the tiny, insistent voice spoke up in Snape's head again, the vampire trying not to listen. But, Merlin, did the sentence, repeated over and over, make _so_ much sense all of sudden.

Where Harry was concerned, the teen only hoped that whatever the Headmaster was going to say next would not only make the situation even worse, Snape hated him enough as it was even without the drama of the vampire bonding.

"Even with the bond formed, there are the strength of them differs. Which is where intent comes to play. As you may imagine, the stronger the intent to offer the blood the stronger the bond would become... And even _then _ there are more specifics which split the bonds into subcategories..." the elderly man looked at the two black-haired males he's seen growing up, seeing that neither was quite sure what to make of his words. And so he continued.

"If the one offered blood came from a sibling and was accepted, it would deepen the family bond, same would go for anyone related closely. For you two though..."

"What's the result?"

"Offering an unrelated vampire blood makes you create an attachment bond. That doubled with the intent... which I would say was strong - Harry being who he is - I'd say that you might be facing the possibility of having created a bond up to the strength of a Life-time one. The strongest of them... And an unbreakable one."

Surprisingly it was Severus who had fainted at those words, though later on, the Headmaster would realise that what with the man went through that day already, he should have expected it.

What surprised the man more, however, was when the teen immediately kneeled by the vampire's side, saying a few incantations with his wand drawn over the man. Soon the breathing evened and the man slipped into a deep sleep and then - once that happened - was deposited on the couch with a levitation spell. Floor can't be too comfortable a place to sleep.

It was only when the Potions Master was taken care of that Harry turned to the Headmaster again, his question clear to see in his eyes, even before he voiced it, quiet as it left his mouth. "What does this mean for me?"

"A Life-time bond is an equivalent to marriage in our world, Harry. It also rarely ever used to bind two people, much less formed on its own, because it requires frequent contact between the bonded." the old wizard explained, standing up from his chair to walk closer to the teen. "In your situation it first and foremost means that the two of you will have to live together. As Severus has his own quarters I'd say you'll be moving in with him, though given his state I'd say there is some changing of identity to take place, maybe for you also? It might be easier. You might even find out that however united a front we may seem, there is a lot of mistrust in these walls. Mistrust no one my position can do something about."

"What do you mean?"

It was hurting the old wizard to see just how vulnerable the teen looked when he asked that. There was none of the tough mask he was forced to put on every year up at that moment. There was only a scared child.

"If we go through with it, then you'll soon understand, my boy."

"But wouldn't it be suspicious? For me and Snape..." at the look from the Headmaster Harry rolled his eyes. Discreetely. "_Professor_ Snape to disappear and for a new teacher and a new student to sprout from the ground?"

"It might prove less difficult than you might imagine, Harry. Because, as we have to announce that professor Severus Snape died by hands of Death Eaters, from what Severus said it will be _necessary_. Voldemort did not want him to survive. He _can't _continue to be Severus Snape. At least not on the outside..."

Harry understood that reasoning, but it still did not solve the whole situation.

"But wouldn't the Board of Governors have something to say against a _vampire_ of all creatures as one of the teachers?"

"That's a valid fear, Harry, however that is where _you_ come into the picture."

"Me?"

"Yes, you, my boy. Whilst there would be many obstacles with appointing a vampire into any position in the school, the Board of Governors can't say anything against a _bonded_ vampire, one who doesn't pose any actual danger to the student body. They might grumble about the morals of a teacher and a student being together, but if what I assume is correct, then you're for all purposes married. And there is nothing they can say about having a student and a teacher of that status. We'll need to check if that was indeed the type of bond you two formed first though."

As the old wizard's words trailed into silence again, Harry seized his chance and spoke up again.

"But what about _me_, professor? What will happen with me?"

"Well, given that one of your teachers had just been killed, possibly for the information he could have about you, it is a valid reason for you to go into secluded training, don't you think?"

"I suppose. But Headmaster, what if the strength of the bond we have is not enough?"

"It would pose a problem Harry, were it not enough. However what with the way you two were behaving, especially you, I have to say, I don't doubt that the Life-time bond is what you two shall have. If it eases your mind though, I will go and check the records of the students right away. A change as important as this one would be recorded there already."

"That would be great, Headmaster." Harry exhaled slowly, not realising he had held his breath until his supply of oxygen was renewed.

"It is no problem, my boy. It might however take me a bit of time to search through them, so maybe you should go and catch a few hours of sleep? You can't have slept much, if at all today. You could come back here the first thing after the breakfast."

Harry thought about the option for a moment, his eyes unconsciously sliding to the sleeping form of the Hogwarts' new resident vampire and even if something was telling him not to venture far from the man, the sleep _did _sound quite good.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." he decided in the end, after all there truly was not much reason for him to stay at the moment.

"Good." the Headmaster smiled at the teen as he stepped into the fireplace, Floo powder in his hand. "You know Harry, it is a blessing that it's the Easter Holiday. We have time to iron out the plan. Good night, Harry."

And despite knowing that it was more of an early morning rather than night, Harry replied the same.

After that the Headmaster disappeared in a flare of green flames.

* * *

><p><strong>Tadah?<strong>

**Sorry for the delay, but as of late I am having quite the trouble with getting onto HP wave... *sigh* .. school and everthing is positively draining me. **_(However if you're a Hobbit fan and you know me on AO3 (Kami_no_Namida), you might find something of your liking there - the only story I have less trouble writing now)_

**ANYWAY, I hope that you like the chapter at least a bit, AND if something seems confusing to you or you see some mistakes do tell me by all means, I've been writing this chapter on/off for the last few months and as such it's very much possible that I missed something. ****o(O.O)o**

**See ya~ ( "-.-)/**


	4. A Game of Chess

**... Crimson Ties ...**

**4. A Game of Chess**

When Harry woke up, it was to a throbbing pain in his head.

He _hated_ headaches.

In general, not just the Voldemort-induced ones. Those could only be called "aches" with a fistful of sarcasm anyway. An entire new level of nasty, was what they were.

Either way, headaches. Not fun. They make gathering thoughts difficult on good days, never mind on bad ones.

Keep them away from him please.

_Especially _on the days during which he has to work on less than half of the usual amount of sleep.

Be it as it may, it was on that aspect of the night past that Harry blamed the fact it took him quite a few moments to remember what happened during the night. And that it took him few more minutes after that to convince himself that, no, he had not dreamed any of it up.

He reasoned with himself that his imagination was not _that_ good.

And well, the bite mark on his forearm spoke volumes on the reality of the night's events also.

The mark...

When Harry looked at it, he could see that it had all but healed already. At the same time he could also see that it was to be one of those unfortunate wounds which were going to leave a scar.

It likely had something to do with the nature of it in the first place.

'A note to write into my copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_: "Vampires like marking their territory. _Bastards.".'_ the teen thought to himself as he got out of his bed, his moves sluggish.

'As if bonding to one was not enough.'

He did not want to think of the bonding aspect too much.

'As if being tied to _Snape_ of all people- of all vampires-... of _all_ _inhabitants of the wizarding world_ was not enough.'

The world had never been too fair on him.

'How did offering to help get turned around so bad?'

Harry had already realised that everything turned out of norm around him quite some time ago. Even then he could not help but think: 'Why me?'

...

If Harry were to repeat Headmaster's words, it was a blessing in disguise that it was Easter holiday.

It being holiday meant they had time to form a plan. They did not have to make do with immediate decisions, which could turn around on them due to being underprepared. They could not afford for their moves and countermoves to not work.

It being Easter holiday also meant that there weren't many people around.

'Not to mention that what with it being early spring still, it is cold enough to justify wearing a sweater.' the Gryffindor added after a bit of inner thinking.

'No one needs to know I'm using it to cover up residues of being a vampire's chew-toy aside from getting away from cold, right?' Harry snorted to himself.

Then an image of Snape chewing on a dog's squeaky toy with his vampire teeth appeared in his mind.

It was hilarious.

Thanks to it Harry arrived to the Great Hall in much better mood than he had been in when he was leaving the Gryffindor tower.

It was also only then that his brain started functioning well enough for him to realize that neither of his best friends were in Hogwarts for the hols. It could be counted as another advantage that they weren't.

Harry sent an apologetic thought their way for thinking that.

Ron and Hermione - or only Hermione, being the more perceptive one - would have noticed something was off. Nevermind the fact that Ron would have been aware of his absence from the dorms for most of the night.

In that aspect there was Seamus Finnegan, of course.

He was one of the eight Gryffindors - Harry included - who stayed for the holidays. He was also the only one out of Harry's dorm mates.

Seamus could have heard. Theoretically speaking... But if there was one thing known about Seamus Finnegan, it was how deep a sleeper he was. He was the type that once asleep no amount of noise could wake him up. There was even a memorable night with fireworks - unsurprisingly made by the Weasley twins - that spoke for the fact.

Seamus had been the only one who hadn't been woken up by the explosion that echoed throughout the entirety of Gryffindor tower at one in the morning.

'Yeah, no real danger from there.' Harry surmised as he looked at his fellow Gryffindor who was digging into his breakfast.

Letting his look slide from the Irish boy, Harry looked around the Great Hall. He was almost alarmed about how few students were there.

'What is it with this year's Easter that made so many people go back home?'

After how many people stayed during the Christmas holidays, it was... strange.

A lot of parents left their children in Hogwarts for the Christmas because of the additional protection. Why not use said protection again?

With his musing, Harry almost did not notice when the morning post started coming.

It was maybe because of the glaringly small number of the owls which reflected the number of students.

Read: very few.

On a normal day there were about fifty owls which carried the Daily Prophet alone.

When Harry looked at the birds that flew in, the _overall_ number did not even come close.

As he started eating his breakfast, Harry knew it was the Daily Prophet that he had to worry about that morning anyway. He had an obvious reason for that.

It was almost funny how those who unrolled their copies of the Daily Prophet behaved.

First they stared at the paper stock still, then shot a look at the teachers' table. Once they realised there was no Headmaster or Potions Master there, their eyes widened and turned back to the paper. It got even more of a comical value when the people around them ended up being in much the same state in a matter of moments.

After they peeked in their friends' copies, that was.

They took what the paper said, added the absence of Snape and the somber mood the teachers at the table seemed to be in... And came to a conclusion.

The gasps echoing through the hall were more than telling.

The Hogwarts students realised that what was written in the paper had to be true.

At least partially.

Or at least the basis of it.

Harry knew what he would see even before he had the chance to borrow Seamus' Prophet. It would have been enough only to see the bold headline taking over a good quarter of the front page.

_**SEVERUS SNAPE, MURDERED BY YOU-KNOW-WHO?  
><strong>__Written by Rita Skeeter_

'If only they knew.' Harry couldn't help but think as he saw the title.

It took Harry only a glance to see that the Headmaster thankfully had some say in the creation of the article... Though maybe article wasn't the best word to use. Skimming through the pages, Harry saw that it was most of the issue that dealt with the death of Severus Snape.

The centrepiece of page two was a statement about the man's "death" made by Albus Dumbledore.

'Well. By him or someone must have gone there as a very convincing doppelganger... One who even has the same pattern of speech.' Harry thought when he read through it, some passages catching his eyes more than the others.

"_Severus Snape was not only teacher, but also a dear friend of mine..."_

'Snape as someone's friend? Well...'

As soon as that thought entered Harry's head a wave of sadness crashed over him.

'Mum.'

He went back to reading before the wave took its chance at drowning him.

_"If there__ was one thing I and a lot of others knew about him, it was that he had always been good at what he did. As such he was **very** specific about the ingredients he worked with, meaning if he could, he gathered them himself. It is more than unfortunate that the ones responsible for his death knew his habits so well. Knew them enough to expect him on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest when he was doing just that."_

'Really, Headmaster?'

He still felt a bit thrown out of his axis.

Affter reading the interview, Harry only skimmed the continuation. He quite wanted to see what _others_ had to say on the matter.

Of course Albus Dumbledore was not the only "informant" the Prophet had.

Moves and countermoves.

Voldemort must have made someone slip a word or two into the right ears. He wanted to make his warning clear and the article was full of allusions to the fact.

For those not aware of Snape's role and those who did not take an active part in the conflict, it was a general warning.

For those who worked against Voldemort on a much closer level, the warning rang more true.

The way the message was gotten across made Harry lose his appetite. Especially when the paper started discussing the gory details of Snape's "death".

Be it as it may, given how more than just a few people started speaking to their friends... Given how green around the gills some of them were...

It seemed to work.

When a House Elf appeared, asking for his presence in the Headmaster's office, it surprised no one. As did the fact that Harry left the Hall after the Elf disappeared.

The Gryffindor knew it was the time to take his place on the chessboard.

He only wished he knew which chess piece he was going to be.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm not dead?<strong>

**First of all Happy New Year! May it be better than the one before for all of us.**

**That aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though it mostly works to set ground for the following part. **_(Which__ is getting longer and longer and you'd have to wait until after my just starting exam period for it if I kept the two together)_**. ****Love you all!**

**See ya~ ( "-.-)/**


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